The Big Three all serve some version of the sandwich; at first glance the only differences seem to be the breads.

Hollis Johnson

Let's dive into Burger King's "Supreme" breakfast sandwich. It's a breakfast limousine wreck of two eggs, two sausages, and two servings of bacon topped with cheese and served in a "toasted hoagie bun" which appears to be crushed in a car compactor before serving.

If this is a toasted hoagie bun, I don't know what a hoagie is. It's an elongated hamburger bun with all the sogginess and disappointment that buns are heir to — a bun to be wished away. The sickly yellow egg is gelatinous and tastes of complete nothingness. With fast-food sausage and bacon all in one sandwich, the entire thing comes off as incredibly salty. I didn't finish this one.

Hollis Johnson

Burger King's more sensibly sized offering is the "Croissan'wich," which comes with either bacon, sausage, or ham — or if you're really feeling cured meats in the morning, all three on one sandwich. In classic BK fashion, the sandwiches seem to have been trampled flat in their wrappings.

Hollis Johnson

With only two tiny strips of bacon, this version is downright disappointing. It's essentially an egg and cheese sandwich — the bacon is all but absent in taste. If it had enough bacon to divvy up in every bite, the sandwich would be decent, as it's lighter fare than the sausage variety. But alas, poor bacon; I knew him not.

Hollis Johnson

The sausage version is somewhat satisfying. The croissant is soft to the touch, yet strangely has little give, akin to the guest-room mattress at a great aunt's house. It's odd. The sausage is juicy and savory, which goes well with the buttery taste of the croissant. However, nothing can repent for the jellied egg square.

Hollis Johnson

Now to McDonald's McMuffin juggernauts. McDonald's makes sure everyone knows it uses real eggs and real butter on the English muffin — and admittedly, quality has drastically improved over the years. And using English muffins as buns is inspired; they hold up without sogginess or sponginess, and they're breakfast food to the core.

Hollis Johnson

The bacon Egg McMuffin is similar to the Burger King version when it comes to the amount of bacon. I know a company can't heap slice after slice of bacon on every sandwich, but come on, two puny slices? At least make them larger. For this reason, it suffers from the same all-egg, all-cheese, no-bacon taste that plagues Burger King's.

Hollis Johnson

That being said, McDonald's eggs are easily the most real — and not coincidentally, the best tasting. The sausage Egg McMuffin is by far the finest McMuffin. It's miles ahead in flavor, as the sausage is strong and well seasoned. It stands out among the cheese and egg, adding depth to the sandwich. Plus, the buttery English muffin adds a richness that suits the sausage more than the bacon.

Hollis Johnson

Finally, on to Wendy's iteration: the "Artisan Egg Sandwich." Wendy's currently only serves breakfast at select locations, which is a shame considering the quality of most of the new menu. It's rather surprising given the total failure of the company's previous attempt at a national breakfast menu in 2007 — the company pulled back much of the menu by 2009.

Wendy's bacon, egg, and cheese suffers from the same malady as the rest: little bacon. But the real bummer is that were just a bit more bacon included, the entire thing would be fantastic. The bun is a honey-wheat "artisan muffin" that resembles a whole-grain ciabatta — it's pliant and tastes rather ... healthy, in a good way. The egg, although thin, is a legitimate fried egg. It looks like I could have made it in a skillet at home; this is no faux egg.

With sausage, there's much more flavor and depth to the sandwich. The patty is peppery and seasoned enough to stand on its own — the bacon gets lost in the taste of bread, but the sausage avoids that. This is a satisfying, filling sandwich. However, the cheese — Asiago — is nearly unnoticeable, and the alleged Hollandaise sauce is absent. But overall, not a bad choice; a surprisingly quality sandwich for a fast-food breakfast. Even without the strong cheese and sauce, this sandwich eclipses the rest.